There is a great need for portable, efficient devices to steam and iron garments. It is well-known to use a steaming iron when ironing clothes and other garments. Non-iron devices called “steamers” have also been used to remove wrinkles and creases from clothes on a hanger or hanging from a rack by jetting steam to the clothes. These steamers do not have an ironing function because they lack the hot pressing plate found on irons. Both steam irons and steamers have been used for applying steam to remove creases and crinkles from hanging garments and other cloth materials. Steam has also been used in the cleaning of a variety of objects such as curtains, couches, furniture covers (e.g., couch covers), etc.
While steamers and steaming irons have been useful steam devices, neither device by itself is versatile enough for various applications which require the use of both devices. For example, a steaming iron can be heavy and bulky to use when steaming curtains and other hanging objects such as a wrinkled suit jacket. The steamer is generally lighter and easier to manipulate for steaming, hanging clothing, and other cloth objects. However, while a steamer may be useful to steam a hanging garment such as a suit jacket, the steamer can not be used to iron out a persistent wrinkle in the hanging garment since the steamer lacks the hot pressing plate found on irons.
Accordingly, there is a need for a device that can both iron and steam garments in a conventional manner on an ironing board and also iron and steam hanging garments where a pressing plate is needed for ironing out wrinkles in the hanging garment and the device is still not too heavy or bulky for steaming the hanging garment.